Marketing agencies and brands are delving further into influencer marketing, collaborating with everything from Artificial Virtual Influencers to Micro Influencers on Social Media. Initially, there were some doubts about the reliability of these investments, but as the industry matures, companies are learning how to strategically leverage creator content and reach new audiences.
The rise of influencer marketing has become a driving force in the industry, and the demand for this type of marketing is only continuing to increase. According to Statista, the global influencer market is projected to reach $16.4 billion in 2022, up from $13.8 billion in 2021 and $9.7 billion in 2020. Results from HubSpot’s 2023 marketing strategy and trends report confirm these findings, showing that 89% of marketers who currently use influencer marketing plan to either maintain or increase their budget for influencer marketing in the upcoming year.
Brands large and small are now actively seeking out influencers with smaller followings, hoping to engage more specialized, niche audiences. Micro influencers, those with followings in the thousands to tens of thousands range, were emerging as the go-to for reaching hard-to-pinpoint audiences. According to HubSpot, more than half of all marketers investing in influencers were working with micro influencers.
The 2023 Brandwatch marketing trends report predicted a surge in the use of virtual influencers, which are computer-generated characters or bots that interact with users on social media to promote products or services. By 2022, almost four in ten American consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 had made a purchase based on the recommendation of one of these virtual influencers, according to Brandwatch.
For example, Luxury brand Prada constructed an artificial celebrity, ‘Candy’, who shot to fame after the launch of the fashion…
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